Brixham??
The Voyages of Richard and Amanda
Tue 13 Jul 2010 19:39
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POS 50:23.98N 003:30.51W
Had a quiet day in Plymouth yesterday, did some
shopping for essentials peanuts, cheesy nibbles, bacon, eggs that sort of thing
and basically just had a chill out session. After spending so long in France we
are not impressed by the quality of food in British shops. It's not that it's
cheaper in France, in fact prices are comparable, but the taste of items like
tomatoes, potatoes etc. is just so much better. We have been conditioned to
expect all our produce to be exactly the same shape, minus any dirt or anything
that would suggest it has been anywhere near soil, unfortunately it means we
miss out on so much taste. However that rant over we have not been able to find
anything to match British bacon or "cheesy nibbles"
Plan A for today (Tue) was to leave Plymouth 6am
and sail across Lyme Bay and anchor at Studland Bay just outside Poole. As
always the wind hadn't read the plan and instead of blowing from the South or
South West it was blowing from the East. One of the few directions that didn't
help us at all. So we ended up with plan B, which meant that after tacking from
Plymouth to Start Point we headed North East to Brixham. This is a town that
I've never been to before and the marina is run by MDL so we can use some of our
free nights so it doesn't cost us anything. We wanted to find somewhere that
would be a useful stop for 2-3 days as the forecast is showing some strong winds
on Wed/Thurs and we want to sit those out somewhere safe. Coming here has also
moved us 30 miles closer so saving anything up to 6 hours on travelling time
when we do cross Lyme Bay.
The trip here was generally uneventful except for
"highlights". Whilst trying to capture that elusive shot of the yellow headed
gannet that Amanda has been trying desparately to capture, out of the corner of
my eye I saw a couple of dark shapes that didn't seem right; always for on the
lookout for anything that could ensnare the boat I looked again and lo and
behold, would you believe it, it was a shark swimming slowly in the opposite
direction about 10 feet away. The usual mad panic as we rush for video and
camera before it disappeared, As it slipped gracefully past us we decided that
this was an opportunity not to be missed so did a rapid 180 to go chasing after
it. After a quick adjustment of sails we were able to come alongside. It was
amazing to see this graceful creature here on the South Coast shores of England.
It seemed to be between 8 to 12 feet in length and it wasn't moving fast so we
think it probably was a basking shark. Further investigation required. It put up
with our company for a few minutes before disappearing below the surface with
flick of its tail to find some piece and quiet.
 The next incident followed shortly after as we were
rounding Start Point, Amanda said "look there must be rocks over there because
the water looked very disturbed" Good old Richard reassuringly told her "Don't
worry it's just a bit of disturbed water where the current is going over a
shallow area, it doesn't look much and we will be through it quickly" It wasn't
long before we were in the middle of a swirling cauldron of breaking waves as
the apparently "slightly disturbed" water turned into something more serious.
Amanda just about managing to stay calm managed to get some explicit shots that
proved she is right sometimes, and her Master and Commander is isn't always
infallible. .....
 The lengths we go to to get an adrenaline fix !!!!! During the worst of the swells we noticed a
lifeboat heading towards us, Amanda thought thank goodness he's coming to save
us, and I thought I'm going to get an embarrasing reprimand. In fact he was
going somewhere else and just shot past at high speed, carving through the
overfalls we had just escaped from, going on to something more serious. At least
Amanda came out laughing that shows here fear tolerance has
increased.
The southern English coastline is truely
spectacular and to prove it Amanda has completly filled the memory card on the
camera with 200 pictures of rolling hills, lighthouses and sea beaten cliffs now
all we have to do is edit them!!!!
We arrived in Brixham at 4pm, its a charming
fishing harbour and is home to a replica Golden Hind. We went for an early
supper in a lovely fish restaurant followed by showers for us both in the best
facilities of the entire holiday. Brixham marina facilities have to be
experienced to be believed. We are now tucked up snugly in J G, reading our
books and ready for a couple of days of well deserved rest from all the hard
sailing.
....
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